MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The US must understand what kind of threat a conflict with China bears, not only for their bilateral relations, but to other countries as well, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said in an interview for TASS Thursday.

"I must say, I hope that Washington will sooner or later comprehend that a conflict between both of these powerful states, the world’s largest economies will neither benefit them, nor this whole immense global village of ours," he said.

He underscored that the current geopolitical situation and distribution of powers differs from the Cold War era, by whose principles the US keeps being guided.

"Today’s geopolitical situation is fundamentally different from what it was during the Cold War era, when the formation along three sides of a triangle was perceived as ‘two against one.’ Today, this calculation doesn’t work. A complication along any side of the triangle does not correspond to interests of any countries involved in it, as well as the world in general. This is why we are advocating a unifying agenda," the diplomat noted.

Speaking about the situation around Hong Kong, the senior diplomat underscored that Russia stands against any external interventions. "If we all respect the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of China — and I am certain there are no doubts about that — then we must view the Hong Kong situation as a strictly internal affair of China. This is where our position stems from. We stand categorically against any foreign meddling in relations between the central government and one of the country’s regions," he said.

He also noted that he considers it funny that reproaches for a lack of democracy come from those who "ruled over the colonial Hong Kong for almost 100 years, but somehow did not use this time to introduce direct elections there, sending governor generals from overseas instead without taking the opinion of the locals into account."